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Topic: This is just low. (Read 24383 times)

I agree with PPs that letting someone cut to the front of the line affects others (and who's to say that someone else in line doesn't have issues?) and that it's not fair to assume everyone is okay with it.

I live in San Francisco, and I have never seen a parking spot reserved for the pregnant or for parents.

I really don't like the lack of consideration a lot of people have for pregnant women, a simmering rage that how dare a pregnant woman take a seat or a parking spot. Being pregnant is for many of us very difficult, and although not all of us are going to be pregnant women, we were all of us at one point fetuses/part of a pregnancy. A little empathy could go a long way, and it's not as though women are normally going to be taking advantage of pregnancy for long, as it's a passing state with very, very few perks and lots and lots of discomforts. Also, not everyone in that state intended to be there (let's not forget that rapes can result in pregnancies; I never assume that a woman intended to get pregnant -- and indeed someone else's family planning is never my business unless it's my husband or someone expecting something from me). I suspect that often the disapproval is sexual in origin -- obviously the woman had sex to become pregnant (I got a lot of teasing when I got pregnant the first time, and I kept thinking, "I'm over 30 and married; this is really silly. It would be shocking and abnormal if I were virginal as a married, middle-aged person!").

This post makes little sense because whether or not a woman is pregnant by choice or not is irrelevant, and as far as I know married people have sex which often leads to pregnancy. As for a pregnant woman who are unmarried, how does a stranger know and if they are that interested the problem is with said stranger and not the pregnant woman.

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If I'm waiting for the bathroom and someone comes along who is clearly in more discomfort than me, I will let them go ahead of me (e.g., a pregnant woman, a small child, someone who looks ill). But people who have never been pregnant may not understand that a pregnant woman does not have the bladder capacity of a regular woman and that she simply, as a matter of anatomy and biology, cannot hold it in for as long as a regular woman. Hence it is appropriate in my opinion to let her go ahead.

(I actually was in the position of not being able to hold it in at a point in a pregnancy where i had a wait for a bathroom which I could NOT make, and I am going to spare all of you the details).

If its just you, that's cool. But if its a line, you should be switching spots with them (getting at the back of the line or where ever they were in the line), not letting them 'cut' you. You have no right to make the people behind you wait longer, that is not doing a kindness, because as kind as it maybe to the person in need, its completely negated by the nastiness to those who now have to wait even longer.

Yeah, if I am the only one waiting and a pregnant woman enters then I might offer to let her go if she was in visible distress. I would not make assumptions about her bladder because I would guess htere are many women who wouldn't appreciate that. If there was a line and I was just one person in it I would not offer to let her go ahead of everyone because for all I know Sue has IBS, Mandy has issues because of medication and Jen's lunch has been fighting back for a while.

I honestly can't believe that this still continues to be an issue in this day and age. I still give up my seat to an older adult and would most definitely give up my seat to a pregnant woman. DH will not sit while a woman stands, unless she has flatly refused his offer of a seat. I'm very saddened that this custom has gone the way of the wind.

I don't know either- it's a feature some stores offer for a demographic of their customers- it's no different to me than "employee of the month" parking or "take out only" parking spots at some restaurants. If you have a disability there is a legally enforced avenue for you to get enforced, regulated parking spaces- this is simply a perk for a different demographic. It doesn't discriminate against men, because men are parents too- and my husband has used the spots when it's icy or cold out and he has the kids by himself. It doesn't even discriminate against non-parents, because my sister has frequently used them while watching my kids for me, and she has none of her own.

It's not rocket science to figure out why stores do this. Largely it's big box stores who offer the spots, and big box stores make a lot of money off of families (particularly large ones and ones with young children). By offering "perk" parking spots, they make it more likely that the parent out with a pack of kids by his/herself will choose them- knowing there's a reasonable chance they won't be having to truck non-mobile kids in from the back-end of the lot makes popping in for diapers, milk, and bread more temping at BoxMart- and that once they get you in you'll end up with a cart full of other stuff they didn't mean to buy They don't really worry about the "one time your knee was a bit sore so you went home instead of running in to get a bit of yarn", because if it's a long-term problem you can get a handicap pass, if it's short term you'll be back to shopping normally sooner than my kid(s) learns to walk independantly. It's not a morality judgement or a statement on your value as a person- it's economics. They don't love me and my kids more than you and your occasionally tricky knee- I am just statistically speaking more likely to spend more money at that type of store.

This may be the first time you and I agree on somthing. You nailed it.

As for the clergy parking spots at hospitals, I think they are kind of akin to employee parking. Priests/Ministers/etc. spend a lot of time going to and from hospitals, even more than you might expect.

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I honestly can't believe that this still continues to be an issue in this day and age. I still give up my seat to an older adult and would most definitely give up my seat to a pregnant woman. DH will not sit while a woman stands, unless she has flatly refused his offer of a seat. I'm very saddened that this custom has gone the way of the wind.